my answers part one

[lisa gangemi <ligan@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>]

1.  What is the advantage of a primary grade child (K-2) not having
the consistency of a formal library program each week?

A library program treated as a ³special² is not a program that will
succeed to nearly anywhere near the extent of one which is
inextricably intertwined with the regular classroom learning that is
going on the rest of the day.  The library is an extension of the
classroom and its curriculum.  The library should not be viewed as a
special area, but instead as an instructional tool for all grade
levels.

I donıt believe a fixed schedule is in the best interest of children
when it means that the library is available to them only on a certain
day and time.  What if a child wants to come to the library on a
Thursday, but his/her class is scheduled for a Monday?  What if they
see a picture of a certain type of bird and want to find a book about
that bird because it interests them and they want to know more?
Students, and staff, need to know that the library program is here to
support their questions and requests, and that they need to have
unlimited access to the library because our brains are on all the
time.  We cannot predict or tell a child when to become curious or
when to ask for a book.  Individuals need, in a sense, individualized
libraries.  Flexible scheduling allows the library to become an
individual library that can best serve the needs of each of its users
on any grade level.

It is important to note that elementary school libraries are NOT STATE
MANDATED.  According to New York State, there is no ³Formal Library
Program² because the libraries in schools exist for one main reason:
to support the classroomıs curriculum. Through that support, students
WILL LEARN information skills and reading strategies.  Such learning
cannot occur in isolation!


2.  Shouldnıt the basic library skills be taught during the primary
years?  If so, wouldnıt it be better to have these skills fostered and
reinforced for a short time each week as opposed to biweekly?

Yes -- basic library skills should be taught not only during the
primary years, but throughout a childıs career as a student!  Research
has shown that students do not retain skills when they are taught in
isolation, so having such skills ³fostered and reinforced for a short
time each week as opposed to biweekly² does not necessarily create a
stronger library user.

Consider the following analogy:
Teaching library skills in isolation is like having a child waving his
arms and legs while sprawled over a table, then saying, ³This is
called swimming.  Remember to do this when you fall into water.²  We
teach children to swim when they are in the water already.  We should
teach students basic library skills when they are in the library,
ready to begin a classroom project that makes it necessary for them to
learn an appropriate information skill.

3.  Adults love to go to the library and browse.  Why shouldnıt the
primary children learn library skills and have the time to browse with
guidance on a weekly basis?

Students on a flexible schedule have the benefit of being able to
browse with guidance on a daily basis instead of a weekly basis.
Teachers on the flexible schedule may choose to sign up for a fifteen
to twenty minute book exchange slot where the teacher and the
librarian are available for student assistance.  Isnıt it helpful for
you to see your students as readers in a setting different from your
classroom?  And isnıt it helpful for you to become familiar with the
wide variety of materials that are available for your students to
choose from so you can also help me help them make appropriate
selections?

The first few months of library classes are devoted to showing
students: where different sections of the library are; how to select
books; how to use shelf markers to keep things in order; how to sign
materials out; and how to choose books.  They are being given the
necessary skills to help them learn how to become independent library
users.  Does this take time and reinforcement?  Of course! But it is
worth the effort because it gives students a sense of ownership over
their decisions.  As we all know, choosing one or two books from a
collection of over 15,000 is a major accomplishment!  Students are
learning how to become critical thinkers and decision makers -- two
skills that they will frequently be called on to use outside of the
library or the school!

4.  What is the central focus of the primary library curriculum?  Is
it research?

The district librarians created a curriculum framework that is at the
printers right now, which is why it is not yet in the curriculum
frameworks binder.  The frameworks for the library were not created as
a library curriculum, however.  Rather, they were created to show
which areas of the library connected to the classroom curriculum.  The
core content area is listed as reflecting ³the content of curriculum
for grades K-2.²  There is no separate library ³core content² area.

The four concepts listed for grades K-2 are:
1. The student will appreciate literature
2. The student will locate library resources
3. The student will select and evaluate information
4. The student will organize information

The central focus is thus not research but the ability to use the
library in conjunction with the classroom curriculum.  Remember, there
is no state mandate for elementary libraries.  There are no ³skills²
that must be taught, or which the student will be tested in the
future.  The test for our students is called ³life.² They learn
library skills through the classroom curriculum.


5.  What are your goals for the primary grades in the library?

I refer to the American Association of School Librarians goals
statement because as a professionally certified school library media
specialist, I have adopted my professions goalıs as my own for all
grade levels:

To prepare students for:* life-long learning
                                       * informed decision-making
                                       * a love of reading
                                       * and the use of information                 
                                       technologies.

MORE TO COME IN PART TWO...
lisa
ligan@worldnet.att.net
Sousa Elem
POrt Washington NY

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